ferris



(No Model.) H Ll I'ERRIS.

DOOR HANGER Patented Oct. 20, 1896.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

H. L. FERRIS. DOOR HANGER Patented 001'.. 20, 1896.

llllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

HENRY L. FERRIS, OF HARVARD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TOHUNT, HELM.&

' FERRIS, OF SAME PLACE. l

DOOR-HANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,965, dated October20, 1896. Application filed January 20, 1896` Serial No. 576,098. (Nomodel.)

To LZ/f whom t may concer/L:

` Be it known that I, HENRY L. FERRIS, of IIarvard, in the county ofMcHenry and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Door-Hangers and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, 1o which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in door-hangers, and moreparticularly to that class of door-hangers comprising a revoluble wheelmounted in a strap or frame, the latter to be secured to a door, theframe having an overturned portion or housing adapted to protect thewheel from the weather, and in which the wheel is supported upon a trackor rail suitably secured to the building.' zo The improvements moreparticularly relate toa method of securing the wheel and its frame tothe door and prevent a buckling of the frame, and also means forsecuring the wheel within the housing and lto the frame 2 5 in a mannerthat will greatly reduce friction, obviate the necessity `of oiling, andsecure an easy movement without the liability of creaking.

Devices of the character referred to must 3o be strong and durable towithstand the severe usages to which they are put, usually upon barn,stable, or other heavy sliding doors, and mustalso be of cheapconstruction. It is found in practice that inasmuch as the frame 3 5which connects the door with the bearingwheel is one side of the line ofdraft, which passes through the bearing-wheel, and the supporting-track,over which the wheel runs, the said frame has a tendency to and does, in4o fact, bend and buckleat a point slightly above the door, which, inaddition to other inconveniences, causes the door to swing away from thebuilding and not close properly. This difficulty I overcome by soconstructing the frame as to embody with it a Vstrap arranged in theform of a truss, one end of which truss is secured to the frame and thedoor and the other end of which is secured to the upper portion of theframe at a point 5o above the door and opposite the roller orwheel-bearing, while the central portion of said strap or truss isproperly supported at or near the upper margin of the door. I nd thisexpedient not only corrects the fault above/indicated heretoforeexisting in barn- 5 5 door hangers, but possesses other advantages.Heretofore it has been customary to mount the bearing-wheel upon a shortshaft or spindle and to provide suitable bearings in the frame orhousing within which the ends of 6o said shaft may rotate, and it hasalso been the practice in some of the cheaper forms of hangers to mountthe shaft or spindle nonrotatively in the housing or frame and to permitthe wheel to revolve over it. In both of these constructionsconsiderable friction is developed, and, moreover, the parts speedilywear out, unless a specially-prepared shaft or spindle is providedhaving accurately-fitting journal-bearings. Such latter construc- 7otion is, however, undesirable because of the expense. To lessen thefriction at this point I have provided apertures in the housing, andhave partially filled each of said apertures with a flanged thimble. Thehub of the wheel 7 5 is provided with a relatively large opening. Acommon bolt is then passed through the iianged thimbles and through theopening in the hub of the wheel, and by placing a nut on the bolt theparts will be firmly secured 8o together. In this construction the hubof the wheel has no interior bearing upon the bolt, which does not havethe function of an axle or spindle, but solely that of atie-bolt. Theouter ends of the wheel-hubs are slightly reduced in diameter, first, toform the shoulders against which the frame or housing may be drawn bythe said tie-bolt, and, secondly, to form journals which rest withinsuitable bearings within the said flanged thimbles. 9o As a specialimprovement I enlarge the aperture or journals in the flanged thimbles,so as to afford a space between the journals and the ends of the hubsthat shall constitute a j runway or race for antifriction-balls, whichwhen used reduce the friction to a minimum. The invention will be morefully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, inconnection with the description and the subjoined claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents in a side view a portion of a doorwith my irn- TOO proved hanger attached in position upon a rail. Fig. 2is central vertical section of the same;l taken on the line 2 2 of Fig.l, and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 3 is aview similar to that of Fig. l, illustrating a inodied form of theframe. Fig. 4 isa vertical sectional view taken on the line 4 -t of Fig.3 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

In said drawings, A represents the side of any suitable building, towhich a track A is secured by means of any suitable bracketsupport a.

A2 indicates a door. rlhe frame consists of a plate B of suitable lengthand width bent upon itself at b, so as to form at its upper end asuitable housing B with two sides H192, between which the wheel C ismounted. The plate B may he secured at convenient points tothe door A2by means of bolts b3 or otherwise.

I) is tie-bolt, rivet, or the like adapted to secure the wheel Cinposition in the housiuo; sud B2 is s strap suitably tout iu its middleportion und seoiired tothe plete B at its lower end bye rivet b orotherwise oud, seoured at its upper eud by tho soule bolt or rivet l)that secures the other parts together. A thimble or spreader-block B3rests upon the plo-te B sod the .strap B?, sud d bolt oi? rivet possestht-oust suitobleeooituies in the plete, sui'eederfblook. und the strepoud secures the saine together in an obvious uiouuet lt will thus beeotioed that the stiap T2 with the spreader-.bloeit B3 forms a truss.with the plate l? and by greatly stloustlieuiue und stiiioiiius theletter rieveuts all tendency to bending and buckling at any point abovethe upper margin of the door.

E is suitable tliiuible or bottling of suoli diameter us to properly titwithin apertures through the sides t/ t? of the housing oud fueprevented fioiu pussies ventirely through said apertures by reason ofthe flanges c thereon. Each thinible-bearin g E has a central aperturee', adapted to receive the bolt or rivet D. The bearing-wheel C is ofthe usual construction, having a groove orface c, adapted to engage theupper edge ofthe track-rail A and provided with suitable hubs c.Openings c2 are made through the hubs c andare of greater diameter thanthe diameter of the bolt or rivet D, as clearly illustrated. The endsoi' the hubs o' are turned down or reduced in diameter for the purposeof forming journals c3, on which to support said wheels within saidthimblebearings E. The inner side of each thilnblebearing E is providedwith an annular recess or opening egof a size adapted to accommodate thesaid journals c3. In the forni shown in Fig. 2 these apertures orjournal-bearings t? uro oousideiablyloisei 1,11A Vdiameter than that ofthe journals or turnedfdown portions c3 of the hub, whereby a ball-raceis aiiorded, Witliiu Whioli. eutifiiotiouftolls F may be placed. If theballs are not used, the

hub-

journals c3 rest directly within the apertures or journal-bearings e2 inthe thimbles E, as shown in Fig. 4, but I prefer to use the antifrictionball-bearings illustrated in Fig. 2 as a construction in which thefriction is rcduced to a minimum.

Instead of the housing B and the plate B being of one piece, as shown inFig. l, itis sometimes preferable to make the housing B', as shown inFigs. 3 and 4, of a separate piece. In this form of construction aU-shaped frame-plate B4 is suitably bolted to the door, with its ends,which project above the door, rigidly secured to the housing by rivetsb". In this form of frame it is preferable to provide the spreader-blockB3 with an annular flange 197 and to extend the bolt or rivet bs, thatsecured the strap B? to the door at its center, not only through thespreader-block, but also through tlieuoret Doitiou of the door. Thismodified forni oi? construction constitutes a very strong andsubstantial frame and will usually be used where the width ofthe plate Bwould otherwise exceed three or four" inches.

0f coulSe it is immaterial, so far as the truss is concerned, whetherthe ball-bearings are used ofr Whethoi the wheel has journal-hubs whichrest directly within the thimbles. It is equally unimportant to whichform of frame the truss shall be applied, and l have thereforeillustrated bothfforins in the drawings.

' rlhe invention is neat, simple, and durable aud lios 11o oomplioatedpuits to eet out of order, is easily assembled Without the oid ofskilled labor; "and relatively olioup iu. ooustruction.

XVhat l claim, and desire to secure by Iletters Patent, is as follows:

l. A door-.hanger comprising a bearingwheel and frame adapted to besecured to the door, projecting above the latter and provided with asuitable housing for said Wheel of a strap secured at its lower end tothe frame, a spreader interposed between the upper portion of the doorand the central portion of said strap andlmeans for securing the strapat said central portion, the upper end oi' the strap extending to ornear the housing, and a tiebolt for Asecuring the sides of the housingagainst lateral spread andat the same time locking the wheel in positolldnd securing the upper end of said tie-bolt, substantially as and forthe purpose specified.`

2. A door-'hanger comprising a frame provided at its upper end with ahousing and adapted to be secured at its lower end' to a door, anaperture in each sid@ 0f said housing, iianged thimbles, the reducedivPortions of which fit in said apertures, aperturesextending througheachy of thinibles constituting journal-bearings, a wheel, the hubs ofwlioli uit .suitably iouroolled.' Within said thimbles, aeentrallyeiilorsed ooouosv esf tending through both hubs, 'atieb'oltentendus tllousll the tliitubles and tht-'ouali Suid central openingwithout beingincontact with IOO IIO

the latter, and means for securing said tiebolt ends upon the outside ofsaid thimbles, substantially as described.

A door-hanger comprising a frame adapted to be secured at one end to adoor and having at its opposite end a housing, apertures through thesides of said housing, flanged journal-bearings in said apertures,antifriotion-rollers in said bearings, a supporting- Wheel mounted inthe said housing between the sides thereof, provided Withbearing-surfaces constituting journals supported directly and only uponsaid antifrietion-rollers, and a single tie-bolt passing centrallythrough said Wheel and through the housing for securing 1 5 y the sametogether, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix mysignature, in presence of two Witnesses, this 4th day of January, A.

